Paul George delivered what the Clippers needed

With the Clippers mired in a four-game losing streak and Paul George maligned in a shooting funk of his own, the Clippers star challenged himself to turn it around.

Good morning and welcome to The Morning Column presented by The Sporting Tribune. Please subscribe if you haven’t done so already. It’s free and will be delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. OK, let’s get to it!

1. Paul George delivered exactly what the Clippers needed

The Clippers are not where they expected to be after eight games this season. They are 4-4, outside of the Western Conference’s top 10 and have only had Kawhi Leonard available for only two games (both for about 20 minutes off the bench). As bad as things have been, they could be much worse if Paul George had not stepped up to the challenge of being the team’s leader once again. More from The Sporting Tribune’s Eric Patten:

Paul George is a man of his word. 

With his team mired in a four-game losing streak and George maligned in a shooting funk of his own, the Clippers star challenged himself to turn it around. 

“It’s just about putting action behind what we are saying and actually going out there and getting the job done”

---

2. UNLV appears ready for the final push  

At 4-4 with four games remaining, Marcus Arroyo's UNLV Rebels still can earn a bowl game berth despite having dropped three straight games. The Sporting Tribune’s Steve Carp has the latest from Las Vegas:

UNLV is coming off a bye week which allowed itself to get healthy for the stretch run in the Mountain West, which begins Saturday at San Diego State, which has an identical 4-4 overall and 2-2 conference record. The Rebels are getting starting quarterback Doug Brumfield back from a concussion he suffered back on Oct. 7 at San Jose State. They also are expected to have star running back Aidan Robbins in the starting lineup against the Aztecs after Robbins hurt his knee Oct. 15 against Air Force. There are a few other injured performers that could be ready to go as well.

---

3. Ducks’ defensive issues on display again in loss to Canucks

Currently the worst defensive team in the league, the Anaheim Ducks continued to show why in Thursday night’s 8-5 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. More from The Sporting Tribune’s Derek Lee:

Some positives, the Ducks put up five goals and got their first two road power play goals of the season. The bad? They let up eight goals to one of the worst teams in the league and the penalty kill continues to be a hot mess. The offense is starting to find its feet but the defense needs to improve substantially.

---

4. Jonathan Toews scores OT winner for Blackhawks over Kings

Jonathan Toews scored the winning goal at 1:31 of overtime and the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the visiting Los Angeles Kings 2-1 on Thursday night. More from The Sporting Tribune:

Toews started the winning series by claiming a faceoff in his own end. He eventually carried into the zone, and Jake McCabe controlled a bouncing puck to the left of Jonathan Quick and slid a pass across the slot to Toews, who knocked it in.

---

5. Dodgers’ Sheehan makes great start in Arizona

Dodgers No. 22 prospect Emmet Sheehan had a quality outing in the Arizona Fall League. Sheehan's performance powered the Glendale Desert Dogs to their first shutout win of the 2022 fall league and The Sporting Tribune’s Bruce Kuntz breaks it down.

He threw five scoreless innings, only allowing three baserunners and striking out four. Three of his four strikeouts were of the looking variety, which is a testament to how well his stuff was working and fooling opposing batters. His command was also sharper than it’s been at times this fall, throwing 73% of his pitches for strikes and only issuing one walk.

---

6. Lakers look for third straight win, face Jazz

Feeling at least slightly better about the road ahead, the Los Angeles Lakers will take their first winning streak of the season into a home contest Friday against the Utah Jazz. More from The Sporting Tribune:

The Lakers started the season 0-5 but have since defeated the Denver Nuggets and New Orleans Pelicans in succession, needing overtime to get past the Pelicans 120-117 at home Wednesday. The Lakers blew a 16-point third quarter lead but forced their way into overtime when sharpshooter Matt Ryan drilled an off-balance 3-pointer at the fourth-quarter buzzer. The Lakers won despite LeBron James shooting just 1 of 5 from the field in the extra period

---

7. Odds and Ends presented by Circa Sports

Here are some odds at Circa Sports if you’re thinking about placing a wager today:

---

8. Ticket Time presented by TickPick  

Here are the “get in” prices for tickets if you’re thinking about going to a game today:

Utah Jazz at Los Angeles Lakers: $58

---

9. On the Air presented by Pirnia Law

Here are the game times and television channels for professional teams in the region:

5:00 p.m. – Los Angeles Clippers at San Antonio Spurs – Bally Sports SoCal

7:30 p.m. – Utah Jazz at Los Angeles Lakers – Spectrum SportsNet  

---

10. The Arash Markazi Show presented by The Sporting Tribune 

On Thursday’s show, the crew talked about the Lakers potentially turning their season around and if Kawhi Leonard will ever be his old self again with The Sporting Tribune’s Tim Lee and Nick Hamilton.

Listen to The Arash Markazi Show presented by The Sporting Tribune on The Mightier 1090 ESPN Radio in Southern California, 98.5 The Fan in Las Vegas and the Hawaii Sports Radio Network 95.1 FM and 760 AM in Hawaii. You can also listen to the show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Play and Stitcher.

Thank you for reading. Please click below to subscribe to The Morning Column presented by The Sporting Tribune. It’s totally free and will be delivered to your inbox every morning.

That’s it for today. Talk to you all on Monday!